{"id":398274,"date":"2010-03-06T15:59:39","date_gmt":"2010-03-06T20:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c60fd53ef01310f71b37c970c"},"modified":"2010-03-06T15:59:39","modified_gmt":"2010-03-06T20:59:39","slug":"republican-governor-nominee-bill-brady-under-greater-scrutiny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/398274","title":{"rendered":"Republican governor nominee Bill Brady under greater scrutiny"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Sunday’s print edition<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Bill Brady finds himself standing in a harsher light<\/h2>\n

Downstate conservative coming to grips with new role as GOP\u2019s nominee for governor<\/h3>\n

By Rick Pearson, Tribune reporter<\/p>\n

In the month since Republicans voted on a nominee for governor, veteran
\nstate Sen. Bill Brady said he’s come to realize his role in the GOP has
\nbeen elevated far beyond serving as just another state lawmaker
\nrepresenting a central Illinois district.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nElection officials declared Brady the official Republican nominee for
\ngovernor Friday by a 193-vote margin over Senate colleague Kirk
\nDillard. But Brady’s political moves in the last week portrayed a man
\nwho’s still coming to grips with his role as the Republican
\nstandard-bearer in a fight to end Democratic dominance of state
\ngovernment.\n<\/p>\n

Brady has proposed banning same-sex marriages and civil unions and
\nloosening restrictions on discrimination based on gender or sexual
\nidentity \u2014 issues that play well with his conservative base but don’t
\nsell well in Illinois’ moderate middle. The Bloomington lawmaker also
\ntried to help a local veterinarian by sponsoring a bill allowing mass
\neuthanasia of dogs and cats, which typically involves gassing the
\nanimals.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nSensing he may have created a flashpoint for a November campaign barely
\noff the ground, Brady removed his name from the proposals and handed
\nthem to a colleague.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\n"I have taken on a different role from where I was, and I want to do
\nwhat I can to eliminate the Democrats’ ability to distract voters from
\nthe real issues facing Illinois," Brady explained.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nBut that awareness alone didn’t insulate Brady from the harsh glow of
\nthe statewide limelight when he tried to attack Democratic Gov. Pat
\nQuinn’s ill-fated and unannounced program to release prison inmates
\nearly. Brady contended a man released early from prison had been
\naccused of murder, but didn’t check available records or contact local
\nprosecutors. Records showed the man was not part of the failed Quinn
\nprogram and had been released under the provisions of current law.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\n"This gentleman committed murder in Sangamon County," Brady stated.
\nAsked by reporters how he could say the man was a murderer when he had
\nnot been tried or convicted, Brady said, "Maybe the governor wants to
\nwait until someone’s convicted. I don’t."
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nSuch missteps come at a critical time for a candidate who has spent
\nnearly 17 years in the state legislature but needs to quickly introduce
\nhimself to voters in the populous Chicago metropolitan area before
\nQuinn does it for him. In many ways, the stage is set for a contest
\nbetween two major party contenders who could not be farther apart
\nideologically or geographically.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nBrady, a real estate developer with several other financial interests,
\nrepresents the keep-government-out-of-my-business conservatism that
\nemanates from his legislative district. He is a staunch fiscal and
\nsocial conservative who is as opposed to tax increases as he is
\nabortion rights.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nQuinn, the longtime Chicago populist who was elevated to the governor’s
\noffice more than a year ago after the impeachment of Rod Blagojevich,
\nhas long attached himself to liberal causes, including universal health
\ncare. But Quinn has struggled to accomplish his public policy goals,
\nmanage an overwhelming state budget deficit and persuade lawmakers to
\nsupport his proposals for tax increases.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\n"Each party has now nominated the candidate the other party most wanted
\nto run against," said David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public
\nPolicy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nBrady has survived a close primary before, winning the GOP nomination
\nfor the Illinois House by 8 votes in 1992. He lost a bid for the
\nRepublican nomination for Congress in 2000 and was appointed to the
\nstate Senate in 2002 where he has served ever since.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nDuring his congressional run, Brady acknowledged he had a long-term
\ngoal of becoming Illinois governor. He was the third-place finisher in
\nthe 2006 GOP governor primary. He secured February’s race by winning
\nthe less-populous counties in a free-for-all that featured six other
\ncandidates, all from the Chicago area.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nHe backs limits on damages awarded in civil lawsuits, supports tuition
\ntax credits for parents of private school students and has proposed
\ncuts in taxes and other tax credits to help spur job growth.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nBrady also has opposed some government transparency efforts, including
\nrequiring campaign contributors to list their occupations, and he said
\nadopting detailed federal-style statements of economic interest for
\npublic officials would be "a little bit of an overreaction."
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nAfter a primary election contest in which Democrats and Republicans
\nfocused largely on the state’s miserable financial shape and huge
\nbudget hole, it may be the candidates’ positions on social policies
\nthat will decide the votes of independent and middle-of-the-road voters
\n\u2014 including suburban women \u2014who are the key to winning.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nBrady, 48, is married with three children. His social conservatism is
\nrooted in his Roman Catholic faith and upbringing. He supports a ban on
\nabortion, including in cases of rape and incest, with an exception only
\nwhen the mother’s life is at stake.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nIn keeping with the wishes of the insurance industry \u2014 his hometown’s
\nlargest private employer is State Farm Insurance Cos. \u2014 Brady has
\nfought against government mandates for broader insurance coverage,
\nincluding mammograms for women and longer hospital stays for postpartum
\nmothers.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nBrady has supported bringing religion into public classrooms "through
\nthe principles of the Founding Fathers’ design" and also believes local
\nschool boards should be able to order the teaching of creationism.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nBy contrast, Quinn’s positions on social issues fall to the left. He
\nbacks public funding of abortions, supports Chicago’s ban on handgun
\npossession and favors civil unions for same-sex couples, saying that
\nfull marriage equality probably wouldn’t get through the legislature.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nQuinn disputes Brady’s contention that his conservative positions are "mainstream."
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\n"In the past, his voting record has shown that he has been very extreme
\nwhen it comes to taking on issues protecting everyday people," Quinn
\nsaid.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nIf general election contests represent a time for candidates to move to
\nthe center to secure the votes of independents, Brady may have a
\nfarther drive.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\n"At a time when Illinois could really use an uplifting campaign that
\ntalks about issues and solutions and options and new directions, we’re
\ngoing to get a debate over killing puppies," Yepsen said.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nBrady said he believes differences with voters over his stance on
\nsocial issues could be countered by a campaign "primarily focused on
\nthe economic issue" of Quinn’s governance and push for higher taxes.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\n"That’s the most important question on people’s minds: Who’s got the
\nleadership and competence to govern this state?" Brady said. "I don’t
\nthink there’s any question given Quinn’s extreme position on a 50
\npercent tax increase as opposed to someone who wants to reduce the tax
\nburden."
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nBut while Quinn survived an intense one-on-one primary fight, Brady’s strategy has yet to be tested.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\n"Quinn has taken every hit anybody can throw and survived, while Brady has yet to take a real punch," Yepsen said.
<\/br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Sunday’s print edition: Bill Brady finds himself standing in a harsher light Downstate conservative coming to grips with new role as GOP\u2019s nominee for governor By Rick Pearson, Tribune reporter In the month since Republicans voted on a nominee for governor, veteran state Sen. Bill Brady said he’s come to realize his role in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3992,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-398274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3992"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398274\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}